LinkedIn Says Netflix's Marketing Chief Kilgore Joined Board of Directors

LinkedIn Corp., the world’s largest business-networking site, named Netflix Inc. marketing chief Leslie Kilgore to its board as it works to expand its subscription service.

The appointment of Kilgore is effective immediately, LinkedIn spokeswoman Kay Luo said today. Kilgore joins a month after Mountain View, California-based LinkedIn added Netflix director A. George “Skip” Battle as a board member.

“Netflix has arguably built one of the preeminent premium subscription businesses on the Internet,” LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner said in an interview. “Someone with her experience and her ability can immediately add value.”

LinkedIn, founded by former PayPal Inc. executive Reid Hoffman in 2003, has grown to 65 million members in 200 countries by allowing users to create and maintain profiles for free and charging for premium service. In 2005, the company introduced a subscription product to help recruiters find job candidates and communicate with them directly. LinkedIn also sells a service that helps employees within companies collaborate on projects.

About a third of LinkedIn’s business comes from premium subscription services, with another third coming from advertisements and the rest from enterprise licensing, Weiner said.

Netflix Growth

In her decade at Los Gatos, California-based Netflix, Kilgore has helped the DVD rental service build its subscriber base to more than 13 million from fewer than 100,000.

Kilgore, 44, and Battle are LinkedIn’s first outside directors, and bring the total number of board members to six. Lise Buyer, a consultant to Silicon Valley startups, said after Battle’s appointment last month that companies typically hire independent directors when they’re headed for an initial public offering.

While LinkedIn hasn’t announced plans for an IPO, Hoffman said, “We’re considering all options,” during a May 4 interview with Bloomberg Television.

The company has raised more than $100 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Hoffman, who is now executive chairman of LinkedIn, joined San Mateo, California- based Greylock as a partner last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Levy in San Francisco at alevy5@bloomberg.net